I don't see a problem really, if you don't want bars from the far east, just don't buy them...

OK so Hope seem to carry a customer perception and position in the market, they have made an art of inefficiently nibbling parts out of billet and slapping the odd union flag on some of them, so people can wax lyrical about how their brakes come from the land of flat caps and whippets rather than those from the land of sushi and ninjas...

The biggest part of all of this is perception though, Hope have never really actively pushed their "Britishness" it's mostly been the Fanbois treating it as an extra USP. I think it would be worse if a British company chose not to enter a market segment just because it meant supplementing their manufacturing capabilities with (Gulp) foreign resources...

I think it's to Hopes credit that they are not so blinded by some UK-centric philosophy and can at least look further afield when they need to...

The day we have Tiawan designed Bitish made components then you know the economy's hit the shitter.

You reckon? I'd read that as the UK having a manufacturing capability the far east couldn't easily or cheaply replicate, sounds like a potentially good thing IMO... what’s wrong with having a manufacturing industry that exports internationally?

What also strikes me is it’s always the far east that gets the interwebz shoeing. If Buying British is really the key thing why is it always Taiwan that seem to get vilified in these debates, why don't we get a bit more vocal about keeping brands manufactured in other western economies out of the UK? nobody seems to be campaigning against Yeti or Santacruz in the UK, both apparently steal trade from the barely extant British bicycle manufacturing industry on home soil, why the double standard?

There seem to have been a few of these debates on STW over the last week or so, are Bicycle parts of British Origin really that far up the STWists agenda?

They do make motorbike bars in the UK, though. But yep, the pushbike ones arent made in the UK and tbh I think they play a little too fast and loose with that. Not convinced about "off the shelf", though.

find this debate very interesting, its no secret in the bike industry that Renthal taper bars are made off-shore

New Balance have a UK factory, and also a number of off-shore factories (China), yet the Chinese and Japanese are very keen on the more expensive, UK made New Balance shoes, whereas New Balance sell more of the off-shore shoes (cheaper) into the UK market!

Dr. Martins shoes the same, have a UK factory making a limited run at higher prices, and rest of range made off-shore and more affordable - yet many sales of the UK shoes going to overseas customers

"UK Made" has a cachet for certain, to our friends overseas, even though we may not all appreciate domestically manufactured goods, especially when price for cash-strapped UK shoppers is more important than moral considerations over 'where' the goods are manufactured

in more recent news, Apple are moving some of the gadget production back to the USA as its actually becoming cheaper than doing it all off-shore

costs in Taiwan have risen somewhat dramatically in recent years, as anyone working in the bike industry could tell you

these rising costs of off-shore manufacturing (and shipping) could create new business opportunities for manufacturing again in the UK, where falling costs of doing business making it once again viable